Monthly Archives: May 2015

The entire academy, we had this carrot hanging over our heads: LIVE FIRE.

See, we weren’t firefighters yet. We had to prove ourselves during our academy, both physically (practical skills), and academically, or else the Captain said he “just wouldn’t trust us with his life.” We would be cut from the live fire activities. Fair enough!

The CPAT is the Candidate Physical Ability Test. Many departments use it to test applicants to make sure they are up to the physical rigors of firefighting. It’s a standardized test, so the major components are the same no matter what department you’re testing for. In fact, many departments contract out the testing to entities such as the National Testing Network